The Cryptic Truth
by Rookie14
Summary: Naruto Uzumaki is a single boy in a large village. With little knowledge of his past, and parentage. He will eventually come to seek the truth. As he grows up in this ninja village questions will arise, and answers won't come so easily. And who exactly is this little blond girl everyone seems to hate? Smartish-Naruto! Non-Jinchuuriki-Naruto! Naruto is two years older than in Canon!


The Cryptic Truth

CH 1

Enter: A Legitimate Uzumaki

"Naruto" - Person Talking

'_Naruto_' - Person Thinking

"**Naruto**" - Summons/Biju talking

"_**Naruto**_" - Summons/Biju thinking

"**Shadow Clone Jutsu**" - Jutsu

(Author's Note)

**FLASHBACK NO JUTSU**

**\./**

The early morning sun's rays shun into a loud-blustring classroom. The room was completely lit, but even that being said. A part of the room seemed darker than the rest. To those who looked upon the spot of darkness could tell the darkness didn't come from the lack of light. It was the vibe that came off the youngest child in the room. This darkness didn't come from grasps of evil created by things such as hatred and revenge. It came from the darkness created by solitude and utter loneliness.

This boy had bright blond hair, that was held up by a konoha headband. His eyes were a bright violet. His attire consisted of a high colored black shirt with long sleeves. On the right sleeve of his shirt was a small orange swirl, while on his left sleeve was a red konoha emblem. His pants were a darker shade of grey, making his pants look almost black. A kunai pouch was strapped on the backside of his waist, while a black shuriken holster was strapped to his right leg. The boy also wore the standard black ninja sandals.

The boy looked normal enough...except you could clearly see the age difference between him, and the rest of the class. The boy was seven years old, while the rest of his class was five years older than him.

This boy's name was Naruto Uzumaki. According to the Sandaime the very last legitimate Uzumaki in Konoha. Yes, there was other Uzumaki's in the Hidden Leaf Village, but all of them were simply orphans who did not carry a last name previously. Though in one aspect Naruto was no different from the rest of them. He too was also an orphan, practically unaware of his parentage besides knowing that one of them were an Uzumaki.

Naruto was currently sitting in the very back of the room in the right hand corner. Some believed he sat in the very back because he was quite the reserved child. Though to the eyes of a shinobi it simply backed up his label as genius or even prodigious child. A shinobi always wants to keep his opponent in front of them, and never allow an enemy behind their back. By sitting in the very back, Naruto never had to worry of anyone sneaking up behind him. As well by sitting in the right hand corner, he had a complete view of anyone in or entering the classroom. Whether they entered through the door or even the window, Naruto would spot them all.

Naruto glanced around the room, quickly spotting cheerfulness among his peers. Almost everyone was part of some group….except for Naruto. Naruto let out a frown, and his shoulders slumped down as he recognized this small detail. It wasn't that Naruto was antisocial or unfriendly. Quite the opposite Naruto tended to be friendly to everyone he met, regardless if they were friend or foe. Yet, this didn't matter to the kids of Naruto's class. They thought poorly of Naruto simply because they were jealous of his skill. Not only had Naruto managed to graduate in two years, but he graduated in the top 5 of his class.

Naruto took a deep breath, and slowly released his breath. He hated it….complete solitude. He had no one to go home to, and even here at school he had no friends to chat with. He had only been in this class for 6 months, and he absolutely hated it. Scratch that. His sensei wasn't too bad, but she hardly ever paid too much attention to him. Since, Naruto usually grasped things quite quickly. She hardly ever needed to help him, and she would shift her focus to the kids who struggled to master whatever concept they were covering. Speaking of the devil, the very same instructor had walked into the room.

She wore the usual Konoha attire with a Chunin flak jacket. She had long untamed black hair, and red eyes with an additional ring in them. She also wore make up consisting of a red lipstick and purple eye shadow. Her name was Kurenai Yūhi.

Naruto watched as she quietly moved to the middle front of the classroom. She walked briskly, and observed everyone in the classroom. Naruto watched as a smile crept on her smile. She was obviously proud of having everyone in the classroom pass.

Kurenai reached the middle front of the classroom, and called for everyone's attention, "Boys and Girls!"

The response was almost instantaneous. Gossiping among the girls, and boasting from the boys completely stopped. Everyone separated from their little groups, and moved into their seats. All the brand-new genin in the room sat up nice and tall, showing the respect they all held for Kurenai-sensei. Even Naruto had straightened up, fixing the slump in his shoulders.

Kurenai let out a smile, "I'd like to congratulate you all for officially becoming genin today. You may believe your time of learning ends now, but that couldn't be anymore wrong…."

Naruto rolled his eyes, and quickly redirected his attention to the window. Even though he held some respect for Kurenai-sensei, didn't mean he liked her boring lectures. He pushed everything Kurenai said to the back of his head. That was until he heard the call of his name, "Team 5: Naruto Uzumaki, Ken Kotetsu, Akane Akiyama."

The blood nearly drained from his Naruto's head. All at once emotions of frustration and anger swelled up in Naruto, "_Of all people why did it have to be those two…."_

Naruto looked at Ken Kotetsu, and could see the same expression on his face, "_Ken Kotetsu son of a wealthy business owner in town….if not the most arrogant kid to come out of the academy!"_

Naruto closed his eyes in frustration, as he quietly remembered all the times he was looked down upon by Ken. Naruto turned his head to the other member, and met the glaring eyes of Akane. While Akane was probably one of the most talented kunoichi's in his class, she thought poorly of Naruto.

Naruto let out a small wince as he slammed his head into his desk, "_Damn it…."_

"Naruto Uzumaki?"

Naruto's eyes lit up at the call of his name. Slowly lifting his head, he met the eyes of Kurenai. Kurenai had her hands on her hips, similar to a mother scolding their child. Naruto hid his anger, and gave her a neutral look, "What?"

Kurenai sighed at the disrespect, "Why did you make all that ruckus, while I'm calling out squads? 

Naruto innocently shrug his shoulders, and responded in a childish voice, "I dunno...I slipped and my head slammed into my desk."

Kurenai sweat dropped, and the rest of the class laughed at the stupid response. Kurenai sighed in defeat, "Fine, but refrain yourself from _slipping_, and don't make anymore noise!"

"Sure thing Kurenai-_sensei!_" responded Naruto with a taunting smile.

Kurenai merely shook her head, and continued with the last couple of teams on her list. As she continued Naruto was quickly brought back to his thoughts, "_Great….I hope we can at least work well together, but I doubt that…."_

Naruto brought his attention to Kurenai, who was giving her final say, "Alright everyone! Your Jounin senseis will be coming to pick you up in any minute!"

Naruto let out a big sigh, "_I have a bad feeling about this…."_

**\./**

The sun slowly sank into the horizon, and the sun's rays shimmered through the darkening sky. Naruto sat silently on the head of the Sandaime on the Hokage Mountain. He stared at the headband in his hand. Completely ignoring the beautiful sunset ahead of him. For a moment he held a loose grip on his headband, but out of nowhere he clenched it with all his might. His knuckles turned a pale white, and the veins in his hand popped out slightly.

Naruto begun to shake his head, as if he was in denial. Then he begun to whisper to the wind, "Damn you….Ken….Akane."

Naruto slowly brought his headband to his head, and clenched both his fists. Without a seconds thought, he closed his eyes and thought quietly to himself, "_If only those two idiots had listened to me….it was so obvious….that damn test."_

Naruto opened his eyes slowly, and looked up at the sunset. The sun had sunk even deeper into the horizon, and it's rays glimmered even brighter. Naruto merely gazed at the sun set, as his thoughts ran crazy.

Naruto, Akane, and Ken had failed their Jounin's test….miserably. The two bells….two lunches….only two will move on. Naruto had seen right through that test, but his two older comrades had been too arrogant to listen to them. They had instead teamed up to take the two bells, and make sure he wouldn't passed. Of course the end result had been….failure. All three of them had failed, and they would be thrown into the reserves. They would know be labeled as non-grads.

Naruto's hand with his headband tightened up again. Anger ran through his veins as he thought about all the hard work he had put into his ninja career. His ninja career was everything he had...it was his dream to one day become the Hokage.

Naruto's head twisted from the sunset, and his gaze settled onto the village. If he decided to abandon the village that very moment…..no one would care. In this village he had no family, and no friends. He had seen the attention the Hokage had received, and that was the attention he thrived for. He wouldn't settle for the 15 minutes of fame pranksters would receive, he wanted that genuine respect that the Hokage received from everyone. That was his goal...he believed if he could find that respect. Then he could find the answer to his loneliness.

Yet….how could he achieve that goal now? The Hokage weren't non-grads, they were all elites. Naruto believed that this label would hinder his ability to go up ranks, as reserves usually had a difficult road to becoming a successful ninja.

Naruto's sadden eyes suddenly hardened. His gaze had turned into pure determination, "_I-I can do this. It doesn't matter if I have to go to the reserves for another year….I will become a shinobi, and I will become Hokage."_

Naruto took a deep breath, as reality suddenly crashed onto him, "_B-but can I really make it?"_

Naruto brought his knees to his chest, and hid his head into his knees. As Naruto rested in the calming position. The sun had finally drowned into the horizon, and a blanket of darkness engulfed the sky night.

**\./**

An aged man sat in a desk cluttered with papers, scrolls, and books. He wore a red, full-length kimono that was tied with a white sash. He wore a white haori, and customized red hat with a white triangle in it's front. In that small section was the symbol for man sat in his seat, with signs of exhaustion in his held a small pipe in his mouth, and he slowly exhaled a puff of smoke.

In his hand was a file, and it was labeled: Naruto Uzumaki. The man rubbed his temples, and looked up at the man in front of hi. The man in front of him was probably in his early 50's, while the man sitting at the desk was in his early 60's "What of young Naruto? Has he been causing problems in the reserve?"

The man shook his head, quickly dismissing that idea, 'Of course not Lord Hokage. In contrary, that boy has grown at staggering rates! For only being in there for six months, and being the youngest of all the reserves. He's clearly the top reserve we have." 

The Third Hokage took another puff from his pipe, and rose an eyebrow, "Is that so, Ryou?"

The man named Ryou nodded his head, "Yes, I found it so strange that a child of his skill would be sent to me. I thought it was because he was so young, but that was not the case."

Ryou pulled out another file, and set it onto Hiruzen's desk, "I was looking at his former sensei's file on his former team, and I found a couple of things. First I found out that Naruto had seen through the test's hidden objective, but he failed to convince his teammates otherwise. The jounin in charge of his team suggested it was because of his age. That Naruto's other teammates rejected the idea of cooperating with him. Thus the end result being him failing the test with his two other teammates."

The Hokage looked down at the file,and his gaze lingered on it. He quickly looked up at Ryou, "I know….why have you brought this to my attention?"

"I think you should pull him from the reserves, and start rotating him into odd numbered teams." replied Ryou.

Hiruzen raised an eyebrow, "This is very unlike of you Ryou. I mean you usually come to me to make a request for keeping a student a bit longer than the standard year. Now you want me to make Naruto an official genin, even though he's only been through the system for six months?"

Ryou nodded his head, and he gave the Hokage a sheepish smile, "I know this is unlike of me, but I think it would be the wisest decision."

Ryou scratched his chin a bit, "How do I place this….he's kind of wasting his time in the reserves. He's a very ambitious child, and I'm running out of things to teach him. Of course things that would be suited to teach a reserve."

Hiruzen eyed Ryou for a second, and he looked down at Naruto, "I understand where your coming from, but there must be a deeper reason for wanting him to jump into an official team."

Ryou took a deep sigh,and look nervously around, "Don't try to play stupid with me Hiruzen."

The Third was slightly taken back, by the tone of Ryou's voice as he continued, "We both know exactly who his parents are. The Village might be too ignorant to realize it, but for Kami's sake. I was his mother's jounin-sensei."

Ryou paused for a second to catch a glimpse of the Hokage's serious posture. "What I'm trying to say is that he's starting to show signs of possessing the same ability as Kushina Uzumaki. His sensor ability his ridiculously high for his age, and his chakra….its so dense. It's no wonder he mastered all those academy techniques in two years! It won't be too long until _other_ _people_ begun to notice too."

Hiruzen eyes narrowed, and he leaned into his desk. He placed his elbow onto his desk, and he clamped his hands together, "I understand your concern, but I still don't see it as problem. He's only seven, it would do him some good to spend an extra year in the Reserves."

Ryou shook his head, "I told you already, this boy….he's very ambitious. Do you want to know what his dream is?"

Hiruzen suddenly let a small smile creep onto his face, "What is it?"

"He wants to be Hokage, and he's determined to do it as quickly as possible." replied Ryou as he sat back into his desk, "A child is much like their parents aren't they?"

Hiruzen let out a large smile, "Yes, they are...aren't they?"

Hiruzen suddenly stood from his desk, and he moved to his window. His gaze wandered over the village, until they finally landed on the Hokage Mountain. His eyes were glued on the Fourth and final head. "Yeah...kids are much like their parents."

Not moving a muscle, the Sandaime asked Ryou, "I wanted to give that boy a normal childhood, but….his family was unfortunate to be struck with so much his parents...then…"

The Third Hokage turned around, and faced Ryou, "I will trust your judgement Ryou, but if you are to be wrong….you know the consequences.'

Ryou nodded, "I will take full responsibility."

"Good, tell young Naruto to come to my office tomorrow." replied the Sandaime.

Ryou nodded, "Thank you sir."

**\./**

Naruto ran through the village vigorously. The sun had just risen, and its early morning rays shone brightly. Naruto raced to the Hokage tower with a smile on his face.

Ryou-sensei had just told Naruto to report to the Hokage, and to not even think of returning. This had brought Naruto to two possible outcomes. He would either be dropped from the program, or he was going to officially be made a genin. Naruto expected the latter, since he had really excelled in the reserves.

In the inside of Naruto's mind he was exploding with excitement, "_It seems these past 6 months had really paid off!"_

Naruto happily race to the Hokage Tower.

**\./**

A young boy kneeled on one knee in front of the Hokage. The boy had jet black hair, and onyx eyes. Under his eyes were long tear-troughs, that were clearly his most distinguishable feature. His hair was rather long for a boy, and it almost reached his neck. Two long bangs hanged over his forehead protector.

The Third Hokage stood in front of the young boy, and took a puff from his pipe, "Itachi….you may stand there is no need for you to kneel." 

Itachi nodded, and quickly stood up, "What is it that you need, Lord Hokage?"

The Third Hokage gave Itachi a smile, "I just got word, that your father had put in an application for you to join my ANBU."

Itachi nodded acknowledging the fact, "That is true, Lord Hokage, but I do believed that the application process was long. Is th-"

Third Hokage let out a laugh, "Your pretty sharp, Itachi. Usual applications usually take up to six to twelve months to be accepted. So the answer to your question is no, this meeting isn't exactly about your entry into ANBU. I just wanted to get your thoughts about it."

Itachi looked at the Third Hokage quite impressed, and answered his question, " Even though it was my father who turned in the application, I do wish to join ANBU. I think it would be a great experience for my ninja career, and a great way to serve my village."

Hiruzen took a long drag from his pipe, "Is that so?...For someone entering ANBU at your age is unheard of…."

Hiruzen watched as a small glimmer of disappointment flashed on Itachi's face, "...But you may be the very first one. I also used to believe that there wouldn't be another shinobi with the potential as you too."

Itachi looked up at the Third Hokage, "Until….?"

The Third Hokage pulled out a file from underneath his kimono, and handed it to Itachi, "The boy's name is Naruto Uzumaki, and he technically managed to graduate from the academy at the age of 7, but his team failed to fully graduate into an actual Genin Team."

Hiruzen paused, and gave Itachi a moment to keep up with all the information, "Long story short he was sent into the Reserves, but he's been very impressive. Only six months in, and the head of the Reserves wants me to make him an official genin. The only problem is that I have no open genin teams…"

Hiruzen allowed his last sentence to linger in the air. Itachi looked up from the file, and uneasily asked, "Do you want me to take him as an apprentice of sorts?..."

Hiruzen shook his head, "Not necessarily, I want you to be his mentor. You might be joining ANBU soon, so it won't be permanent."

Itachi rose an eyebrow, "But what exactly am I suppose to mentor? How far are my limitations? Are there any-"

Hiruzen shook his head, "You'll be accompanying him on missions, and helping him get used to things. You may teach whatever you deem is necessary for missions, I'll trust your judgement. If you would like to teach him further things, do as you like. This...will be your assignment, see it as a test into ANBU if you lack the motivation."

Itachi shook his head, "I have no trouble mentoring this boy, Sandaime. But why me?"

"I told you, you two are alike. You both graduated from the academy at a young age, and…" Hiruzen attempted to put his next words in the nicest way possible, "He doesn't have many friends….I'm sure you know what thats like. When you attempt to go up the ranks quickly, friendship can be hard to attain."

Itachi nodded, "I understand sir."

Itachi looked down at the file with much interest in his eyes, "_So, he's suppose to be a lot like me? He's even labeled as a genius."_

Out of nowhere the door to the room flung open. It slammed into the wall behind it, and a young blond stumbled into the room. He was breathing hard, and his hands were on his knees. Sweat was pouring down his forehead, and he looked like he had been training or something. He suddenly looked up, and his eyes blinked, "Uh….sorry I must have the wrong room. Old Man can you tell me where the Hokage's office is?" 

Itachi eyed every little detail of the blond, and he sweatdropped, "_He's suppose to be like me?"_

The Third Hokage let out a chuckle, "You must be, Naruto. You're in the right place, Naruto."

Naruto's eyes widen in terror, and he bowed down, "Forgive me Lord Hokage….its just the last time I saw you….your hair was still brown." 

The Third Hokage gave Naruto a big smile, "I still had brown hair? That must of been a while ago, Naruto."

The Third Hokage brought his fist to his mouth, and cleared his throat. "Do you know why I've called you today, Naruto?"

Naruto looked at the Third Hokage, and then over to Itachi, "I have an idea, but...why is he here? Did I interrupt a meeting?"

The Third shook his head, "Don't worry about that, son. This here is Itachi Uchiha. Itachi, this is Naruto, the boy I was talking about."

Itachi nodded, and offered his hand to Naruto, "Its nice to meet you, Uzumaki."

Naruto nodded, "Likewise, Itachi."

Finishing their greetings, the Third continued to talk. While Itachi and Naruto listened to what he had to say, "Ryou-sensei, has brought it to my attention that you done incredibly well at the Reserves, Naruto."

Naruto let out a grin, taking pride in his work.

The Sandaime continued, "He believes, that you are worthy of becoming a genin right now…."

Naruto's grin grew bigger and bigger, until into transformed into a smile. Then the Third dropped the bomb, "...But I believe it would be better for you to remain in the Reserve for the rest of your time."

The smile was wiped off Naruto's face and instead replaced with disappointment. Naruto's gaze fell to the ground, and he remained frozen. Itachi didn't react, but he was curious to what the Sandaime was trying to get to.

The Third looked at Naruto's reaction, and he continued, "In fact I believe you should wait a couple years. If you're much older it might make your time as a ninja much easier. We don't want something like the incident with your old genin team to occur again. Do we?"

The Third took a drag from his pipe, and looked at an unresponsive Naruto, "I'm going to give you two options….two paths…. I can let you continue your time at the reserve, or…."

Naruto looked down at his feet, "_Damn it…."_

"or, I can give you a much harder path and let you become genin. But you w-"

Naruto eyes lit up with determination, "I want the latter! I want that option." 

The Third looked at Naruto with a stern face, "Allow me to finish. If you take the second option, it will be a very long and tough path. You will be looked down upon from your comrades because of your age. And there is nothing I can do about it. I suggest you take the former. Not only will your grow older, but you will gain some experience in the reserves. Its obviously the easier optio-"

Naruto had enough. All his emotions boiled up, and pointed a finger at the Third, "Listen here Old Man, I don't want the easier path. Maybe...Maybe I want to learn to take the harder one! I want the second option."

The Third Hokage gave Naruto a curious look, "Then allow me to ask, why? Why take the harder path, when the easier path will take you to the same place? To become a genin right?"

Naruto clenched his fists, "I know you are the Hokage….but who are you to say the second option is the harder one? Someone must have the courage to walk down it to check! And I'll be that one to do it! I said I want the second option!"

The Third Hokage let out a smile, and then a small laugh. Naruto clenched his fists even tighter, "What are you laughing at?!"

The Third didn't answer his question, but repeated Naruto's words, "Someone must have the courage to walk down it to check...huh? And you are determined to be the one?"

Naruto nodded his head vigorously, "Yes!"

The Third gave Naruto a hard look, and then glanced over at Itachi. Itachi gave the Third a slight nod, and the Third looked at Naruto, "You are now officially a genin of the leaf, Naruto. Itachi here will be your mentor for the time being. He will show you around."

Itachi was about to respond, when Naruto was in his face, "So, what do we learn first Itachi-sensei!" 

Itachi was a bit taken back, and he looked confused for a moment. He then poked Naruto in the forehead causing him to fall back a bit, "First, I'm not your sensei. As the Sandaime said, I'm just your mentor. Second, we will continue this conversation at a different location. I'm sure the Third is busy right now." 

Itachi was about to look up to the Third, when Naruto grabbed his hand and dragged him out of the room, " I got it, Itachi-senpai! No time to waste then! Lets get going! See you Old Man Hokage!"

Itachi taken off guard once again, was quickly dragged out of the room. The Third chuckled as he looked Naruto drag Itachi off.

The Third looked down at the spot, where those two had stood, "_Not only do I want Itachi to mentor Naruto, but I was hoping those two could form some type of friendship. I guess time will only tell." _

Naruto dragged Itachi down the hall, and Itachi finally managed to catch his train of thought, "Naruto! Stop!" 

Naruto turned around to face Itachi, "What is it, Itachi-senpai?"

"BAM!"

Naruto turned around, and noticed he had bumped into a younger girl. The girl had long blond hair that was tied into a ponytail, and bright blue eyes. She had three glaring whiskers on each cheek. She wore a yellow kimono style dress, with matching yellow sandals. Naruto looked down at the girl, "I'm so sorry! Here let me help you up."

The girl look at Naruto a bit confused, and let out a big smile, "Its okay! I wasn't looking where I was running either. I was just trying to get to the Old Man's office."

In one of the most rarest of occasions, Itachi let out a frustrated sigh, "Naruto, I told you to stop. Look what happened!"

Naruto glared at Itachi, "Calm down, Itachi. It was an accident. Right little girl?"

The so called little girl kicked Naruto in the shin, "I'm not little! or little girl! My names Mina Uzumaki!"

Naruto and Itachi watched as the little girl just ran off. Itachi looked at Naruto, "You're pretty smooth with the ladies."

Naruto didn't respond to Itachi's joke, and looked at the girl, "_Why….did that girl seem so familiar? Even though I've never met her before?"_

**\./**

**A FEW NOTES**

**Ages: **

**Itachi: 11**

**Naruto: 7**

**Mina and rest of her generation (a.k.a Rookie Nine):5**

**Here are a few things concerning Itachi. Even though he's seen in the manga and anime as a serious guy, who hardly jokes around or show any emotion. When he was younger he did show a bit more emotion, and I'm sure he joked around here and there. In Kakashi's ANBU filler arc, he was shocked at Gai's prowess in Taijutsu alone. So, I'm not necessarily trying to change his character. **

**So, did you enjoy this story? This is something I've been wanting to do for a long time. A story where Naruto isn't the Jinchuuriki, and he managed to live a somewhat normal life as an orphan. **

**What did you like about the story? Are there any elements I should include in it?  
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**FAVORITE, FOLLOW, AND REVIEW!**


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